Chinese Coins: New and Old, Again

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert...Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies...
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Near Datong, China. I look up and down a stone pillar, one of twin rows that flank my path. A stylized elephant just above the base holds my attention. Towering on its back is a 20-foot tall hexagonal column, the six sides decorated with seated Buddhas. Two small children clamber up to the beast and giggle as they stroke its trunk.

Liu Yang, my excellent translator explains. The pillars are reproductions. From 386 to 534 A.D, this area of China’s Shanxi province was the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty. 1,500 years ago, the Wei queen had a miraculous dream in which an elephant appeared before her. This dream foreshadowed the birth of a royal heir. Columns like these originally commemorated that occasion. In recent years the Chinese government restored this area to its former glory. The original scene must have been stunning. If not for the reconstruction work, though, there would be nothing to see here. The Shelley poem worms its way into my thoughts.

It is a warm late August day and the sky is gray with clouds, yet no rain falls. A footbridge leads me across a lake to a magnificent, ancient-looking Buddhist shrine. Like the shrine, the lake is recent. This is a much drier land than it was 1,500 years ago. Then, a river ran along the base of nearby sandstone cliffs. Into these cliffs Wei artisans carved shrines to honor Buddha. Today we call these man-made caverns the Yungang Grottoes. The Grottoes are home to thousands of sculpted Buddhas that vary from a few inches in height to 49 feet tall.

The best-known numismatic tribute to the Yungang Grottoes is a People’s Republic of China five coin set issued in 2010. The best-known coin of this set is a 20 Yuan 2 oz. silver piece. The obverse features a poetic rendition of the cliffs and shrine by Shenyang Mint artist Fu Lili. The reverse, by Zhang Changming, portrays an exciting piece of ceiling art called the “Flying Asparas.”

Artist Fu Lili and her design for the 2010 20 Yuan Silver Yungang Grottoes coin.

Buddhist thought is also central to the Lunar New Year coins minted every year by China. It is told that Buddha once invited all the animals of the world to be part of a New Year celebration. Only a dozen animals answered the call. Buddha honored these twelve by naming a year after each of them. 2017 is the Year of the Rooster.

The Rooster is a symbol of honesty, as well as physical and moral strength. It represents good fortune, protection and fidelity, but also possesses a certain amount of pushiness.

Fittingly for 2017, there are seventeen Chinese Year of the Rooster coins. They vary in weights from 3 grams of gold and 30 grams of silver up to 10 kilos of gold and 1 kilo of silver. There are colored coins in 3 grams gold, 30 grams silver, 150 grams gold and 150 grams silver. Their artwork reflects China’s folk art traditions. The rooster images on the other coins are done in a naturalistic-style. Coin shapes vary from fan and plum-shaped to rectangular to traditional round.

These coins are a perfect numismatic beginning to the Year of the Rooster and will bring value and enjoyment for years to come. A tradition continues and what is old becomes new again. The Chinese New Year begins on January 28, 2017. Happy New Year, 新年快乐.

Peter Anthony is an expert on Chinese modern coins with a particular focus on Panda coins. He is an analyst for the NGC Chinese Modern Coin Price Guide as well as a consultant on Chinese modern coins.